Adjustable foot for ladders.



W. D, OSTERHOUDT. ADJUSTABLE FOOT FOR LADDERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1913.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

TE STATES? PATENT OFFICE- WILLIAM D. OSTERHOUDT, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB, 0F ONE-HALF T0 EVERETT V. WATSON, 0F FISHKILL-ON-THE-I-IUDSON, NEW YORK.

ADJUSTABLE FOOT FOR LADDERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24:, 1914.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM D. OSTER- noUDr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident or Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Adjustable Foot for Ladders, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to an adjustable foot for ladders and the objects of the invention are to improve upon such devices by taking the strain oil? the lower round of the ladder, and distributing the strain, so that it is taken by the lower ends of the ladder sides and by a metal brace rod extending between said lower ends. In this manner, the device becomes more eflicient, does not materially increase the length of the ladder and strengthens the ladder while at the same time providing for twisting strains when the ladder is used in situations in which the strain does not fall equally upon both sides of the ladder.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means for automatically looking the ladder to the adjustable foot when the weight of a person is placed on theladder, so that the ladder cannot slip sidewise along the foot. Unless the lock is automatic in operation, there is no certainty that the operator will lock the foot to the ladder manually, as by a pin and slot, or by a pin and segment, as usually provided, because this important operation may be forgotten, and an accident may result. my improved device, however, the ladder may be set at any desired position on the foot, and then the act oi. mounting the ladder, firmly locks the foot to the ladder. In fact, with a farm ladder of ordinary weight, the weight of the ladder itself is usually sufficient to lock the parts together, since my improved locking device depends for its operation upon an angular displacement of the ladder relatively to the plane of the ladder foot. 7

The invention is shown in one of its preferred forms in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ladder having my improved adjustable foot attached thereto; Fig. 2 isan enlarged detail transverse sectional view of the stirrup clamp on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is an inthe foot and the plane of the ladder sides when the ladder is placed against a wall or other support.

Referring to the drawings, A represents an ordinary farm ladder by way of illustration, although the invention may be ap plied to any suitable ladder, and B represents an arched or bow-shaped adjustable foot having the gripping toes C. The sides D of the ladder as shown are provided with the usual rounds or treads E and in order to connect the adjustable foot to the ladder and take the strain oil" the lower round, I provide a metal brace rod F adapted to be secured transversely between the lower ends of the ladder sides. As shown, this brace rod extends through apertures in the ladder sides and is bolted in place as by means of the nuts G and H.

In order to produce a more rigid and serviceable construction, guide plates J are preferably secured to the inside portions of the lower ends of the ladder sides, through which guide plates the brace rod F passes. The guide plates J may be secured to the ladder sides as by means of the screws K or other suitable fastening means, and as shown, these guide plates have longitudinal slots L through which brace rod F passes, because the location of the brace rod longitudinally in the guide plate necessarily varies with ladders of different width. The brace rod will be located'nearer the top of the slot with wider ladders and with narrower ladders the brace rod will be located nearer the bottom of the slot, since the relation between the brace rod and the arched foot remains relatively fixed and the angle between the brace rod and the foot remains fixed.-

The guide plates J as shown are recessed at 0 between the lugs P for the reception of the foot and if desired, the lower ends of the ladder sides may be beveled or cut away at Q, to accommodate the foot. The lugs P are preferably apertured to receive the pins R shown in this instance having winged finger pieces S and nuts T.

In accordance with this invention a stirrup clamp U is pivotally hung from the brace rod F and provided with an angular opening through which the foot passes. Collars W and X onthe brace rod serve to hold the stirrup clamp centrally of the rod, but permit the stirrup clamp to swing or rock about the rod. The cross section of the foot B is preferably angular as shown in Figs. 2 and 5 and when the arched foot is held in the plane of the sides of the ladder, or when the ladder is held upright over the arched foot in the same plane as the plane of the foot, the ladder may be moved longitudinally along the foot without binding until the ladder has been adjusted in the desired position. Angular displacement, however, of the plane of the ladder relatively to the plane of the foot causes the foot to bind in thestirrup clamp, as illustrated in Fig. 5, thereby preventing the ladder from slipping sidewise longitudinally along the foot. In Fig. 6 a view is shown of the ladder leaning against the wall of a building with the foot upon the ground, from which it will be seen that the body portion of the foot is tipped or arched in the angular opening V of the stirrup, so that the foot and the stirrup are clamped to each other. Any increased weight thrown upon the ladder, as the weight of the operator who mounts the ladder, increases the binding effect of the stirrup upon the foot. The foot passes loosely through the recesses between the lugs P and through opening V in the stirrup, so that the foot may be moved or slid through the guides and through the stirrupwhen adjustment in dii'ferentpositions is desired, but the clamping effect is obtained with any tipping of the ladder out of the vertical when the foot is braced against the abutment, and this binding or clamping efi'ect takes place no matter whether the foot is on level ground or on broken ground. The ladder is automatically clamped to the foot in any position and the clamp is released whenever desired.

I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent the following:

1. An adjustable foot for ladders adapted to be attached to the lower ends of the sides of a ladder, and comprising a brace rod adapted to be secured transversely between the sides of the ladder, guide plates adapted to be secured to the ladder sides, a stirrup clamp pivotally hung from the brace rod, and a bow-shaped foot passing through the stirrup clamp and guided but capable of rocking in the guide plates.

2. An adjustable foot for ladders adapted to be attached to the lower ends of the sides of a ladder, and comprising a brace rod adapted to be secured transversely between the sides of the ladder, guide plates adapted to be secured to the ladder sides, a stirrup clamp pivotally hung from the brace rod, said stirrup clamp having an angular opening, and a bow-shaped foot of angular cross section passing loosely through the angular opening in the stirrup clamp, whereby angular displacement of the plane of the ladder relatively to the plane of the foot causes the foot to bind in the stirrup and prevents the ladder from slipping sidewise on the foot.

3. An adjustable foot for ladders adapted to be attached to the lower ends of the sides of a ladder, and comprising a brace rod adapted to extend transversely of the ladder sides, a stirrup clamp pivotally hung on the brace rod, and a bow-shaped foot of angular cross section passing loosely through the stirrup clamp, whereby the foot is caused to bind in the stirrup when the ladder is tipped angularly relatively to the plane of the foot.

4. An ad 'ustable foot for ladders adapted to be attached to the lower ends of the sides of a ladder, and comprising a brace rod M. RIEMANN, HERBERT Gr. OGDEN.

Copies of this, patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G." 

